Ritter steps into new role as College revises its approach to harassment

Author: Amanda Cormier

The creation of a Sexual Assault Oversight Committee (SAOC) was announced by President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz in an e-mail to the College community on Oct. 28. Recommended by last year's Task Force on the Status of Women, the Committee will provide oversight on all aspects of sexual assault, including education, prevention, policy and communication. In addition to the announcement of the SAOC, a change to the College's Anti-Harassment policy was announced to include the role of a newly-appointed Human Relations Officer.

Last year's Task Force on the Status of Women called for a "coherent, caring and consistent" policy for handling sexual assault on campus. The SAOC will not be involved in the judiciary process of handling sexual assault cases, but aims to focus on prevention.

"By the time a situation comes to the judicial process, students have already been profoundly hurt, and while a judicial hearing may be able to provide a small measure of justice, it cannot erase the damage that has already occurred," said Associate Dean of the College Karen Guttentag, who is spearheading the SAOC's efforts. "We'd really like to expand our community conversation about prevention, including healthy intimacy, encouraging peers to intervene in unsafe situations and creating a culture where open communication between partners about sexual preferences and boundaries is the norm."

Whereas the SAOC will primarily deal with ways to prevent sexual assault, the changes to the Anti-Harassment policy are designed to expedite the investigation after any type of harassment occurs. Susan Ritter, Associate Director of Alumni Relations, was appointed as the new Human Relations Officer. Her position replaces the Human Relations Grievance Board, which was responsible for investigating harassment cases. Now, fact finders will investigate cases and issue Ritter reports under a certain time deadline. Ritter said time was the main concern in implementing the new policy.

"The old policy complied with federal and state law, but the Human Relations Grievance Board process was bit cumbersome," she said. "Also, in student harassment cases, Vermont law requires that complaints be processed and investigated within certain time deadlines, and the College wanted these deadlines specifically articulated in the policy so that there was clarity for all parties."

The new policy aims to better align with Vermont law, but the SAOC aims to align with the resources of peer institutions. A comprehensive review of the sexual assault resources at peer institutions was released in 2006, prompting a second recommendation of a committee devoted to sexual assault issues. While Liebowitz said that Middlebury's sexual assault resources and policies are in line with those of peer institutions, he said the Committee will centralize information about the resources already in place.

"We have an abundance of resources that can be better centralized and utilized by anyone who has questions related to sexual assault," Liebowitz said. "I believe such a committee will allow us to simply make these resources better and make our policy stronger than it is."

Guttentag said that the Committee will look into expanding education through poster campaigns similar to the ones currently visible in most restrooms on campus. The posters, which provide emergency contact information for victims of sexual assault, were organized and funded by the Office of Health and Wellness Education.

"It's important to note that these [posters] are not intended to serve as the only community message about sexual assault," she said. "I've spoken with a number of students who have some very exciting ideas about additional poster campaigns with a more educational focus, and we're looking forward to their development."

Liebowitz said that there have been no increases in instances of sexual assault on campus. However, sexual assault remains rampant on all college campuses nationwide. A recent Department of Justice study found that approximately one in four women had experienced attempted or completed sexual assault by her senior year in college.

The Committee, which is accepting applications for three student positions, will attempt to create a feedback loop for students to assess the effectiveness of current policies and resources.

"One of our first projects will be inviting current students and alumni to share feedback in person or anonymously on those areas they feel are working well, and those policies and procedures that need more attention," Guttentag said.

Guttentag said that instances of sexual assault among males is severely underreported nationwide, and that efforts to reach out to male survivors will be a foremost concern of the Committee when it convenes formally this month.

"We also feel there is a need to review our policies to make sure that they do not include language that reflects tacit assumptions about the gender and/or sexual orientation of the alleged assailant and survivor," she said.

She also mentioned the need for survivors to have an advocate available to them to assist with the process.

"I think there is a need for students filing and responding to sexual assault charges to have an advocate: someone with some special training and experience whose sole role can be supporting that student as he or she explores options," she said.